Dominion Lock Box

Although a tense peace now exists between the Dominion and the primary powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, conflicts between these civilizations are not unheard of. Whether these skirmishes are brought on by simple miscommunication or by willful dissention from their respective authorities, the outcome is rarely in favor of those that would dare to stand against the Dominion’s fearsome Jem’Hadar warriors and their formidable warships.

To further complicate matters, a large portion of the Jem’Hadar bred in the Alpha Quadrant during the Dominion War have chosen to defy their “gods” in the Gamma Quadrant and support the separatist cause of the True Way. Other Jem’Hadar soldiers have chosen to offer their obedience and service to the “New Link” – a collection of Changelings who have cut ties with their former True Way allies and adopted the planet of Orias III as their new homeworld.

Jem’Hadar Fighters

This fragmentation of the Dominion’s forces in the Alpha Quadrant, and the resultant battles that dot the stars this side of the Bajoran Wormhole, have led to a great number of derelict (yet salvageable) Dominion warships floating adrift at sites of former battle. Enterprising members of the Lobi Crystal Consortium have taken it upon themselves to retrieve and refurbish these impressive vessels. While their primary purpose has been selling them back to the Dominion at deep discounts in order to garner favorable negotiations for trading interests in the Gamma Quadrant, the sheer volume of ships has also allowed them to offer them up for acquisition to interested parties of the Alpha Quadrant.

Veterans of the Dominion War know all-too-well the impressive abilities of these powerful vessels having faced them in many devastating engagements. Starfleet and the Klingon Empire both recognize the benefit that even one Dominion warship could mean to whichever faction that employs them as a weapon of war, and must jealously seek them out even if only for the purposes of keeping them out of enemy hands.

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Dominion Coordination Protocol, “Fleet Maneuver Gamma”

You can barely have a conversation about space combat with a fan of Star Trek without a reference to the amazing space battles seen in the Deep Space Nine episodes, “Changing Face of Evil” and “Sacrifice of Angels.” In the epic battles depicted in this and other episodes of the Dominion War, we witnessed the wholesale destruction that could be wrought by the Dominion’s fearsome warships. The ship models created by the talented crews working on the TV shows at the time created threatening and deadly-looking vessels that have become iconic enemies of the Star Trek franchise.

It should come as no surprise that a great number of the developers here at Cryptic Studios count Deep Space Nine episodes among their favorite Star Trek series – especially the episodes featuring the epic conflicts of the Dominion War. As such, we’ve had the notion of introducing more of the Dominion’s warships as playable starships ever since the successful roll-out of the Jem’Hadar Attack Ship more than a year ago. We’re excited to finally get the chance to put these powerful and enjoyable vessels into the hands of players with the launch of the Dominion Lock Box.

Jem’Hadar Dreadnought Carrier

Players familiar with past lock boxes know that we pride ourselves on offering some of the most unique and interesting gameplay options as ship mechanics attached to the highly-sought-after grand prizes, and the Dominion Lock Box is no exception to that rule. Players that receive the Jem’Hadar Heavy Escort Carrier will find themselves piloting one of the hardiest and heavy-hitting escorts that have yet to be seen in Star Trek Online. In addition to the ship’s impressive stats (which will be detailed in an upcoming Dev Blog), the ship boasts a single carrier bay that will come pre-equipped with Jem’Hadar Fighters as well as the Dominion Coordination Protocol console. This universal console will allow the use of a powerful attack pattern known as “Fleet Maneuver Gamma” which increases the damage, flight speed and maneuverability of all nearby allies while granting them temporary immunity to a wide variety of perception and maneuverability debuffs.

But that’s not the only Dominion vessel on its way! The fearsome Jem’Hadar Dreadnought Carrier will also be appearing in the Lobi Crystal Store alongside the introduction of the Dominion Lock Box. This full carrier (with two hangar bays) is the first Tactically-focused assault carrier we’ve introduced, allowing players yet another unique combination of options in space combat gameplay. Along with a double compliment of Jem’Hadar Fighters as hangar bay items, this carrier will also come with the Dominion Command Interface console which can analyze a target’s weaknesses and broadcast that information to all nearby allies. The enemy afflicted with this weakness will find their damage resistance and defense diminished, while also having a single subsystem flagged as Vulnerable. If enough damage is dealt to the target while under this affect, the vulnerable subsystem will be knocked offline for several seconds. When equipped in conjunction with the Dominion Coordination Protocol, it enhances “Fleet Maneuver Gamma” with additional effects, including a boost to allies’ defense and accuracy.

Both of the above consoles can be fitted on any Jem’Hadar vessel, including the Jem’Hadar Attack Ship.

Jem’Hadar Attack Ships

As another added bonus for owners of a Jem’Hadar Attack Ship, there will now be a Hangar item available for use exclusively for the Jem’Hadar Dreadnought Carrier that will allow this ship to launch a wing of Jem’Hadar Attack Ships. Scaling quality levels of these items will be available for purchase from the Shipyard Store, Dilithium Store, or Fleet Store only if you have obtained the Jem’Hadar Attack Ship through a prior promotional event. Additionally, obtaining either the Jem’Hadar Heavy Escort Carrier or Jem’Hadar Dreadnought Carrier will unlock a new material that can be used on existing Jem’Hadar Attack Ships.

Yet another set of Mirror Universe Vessels will also be making an appearance in the Dominion Lock Box. A Mirror Universe Advanced Escort or Mirror Universe Patrol Escort will be made available to Federation players, while KDF players will gain access to a Mirror Universe Vo’quv Carrier. Both vessels will come with special Mirror Universe material unlocks, and an I.S.S. registry prefix unlock (or A.K.S. for Klingon players) which can only be used on mirror universe vessels.

Complete stats and information on all of the above ships and any special consoles or equipment they come equipped with will be published in a Dev Blog that will appear in the next few days.

Mirror Universe Patrol Escort, Vo’quv Carrier, and Advanced Escort

Apart from these starship offerings, each Dominion Lock Box will also have a chance of containing a number of additional interesting, fun and rewarding prizes.

As a variation on an ongoing theme from previous lock boxes, we have yet another Cross-Faction Console package up for acquisition. This time around, we’re offering Federation players the chance to obtain a Bio-Neural Warhead torpedo launcher, while members of the KDF can get their hands on a Nadeon Detonator console for the first time, which can upgrade all standard torpedo types to create a Photonic Shockwave upon impact.

One of several Very Rare Dominion Duty Officers may be found within a Dominion Lock Box. Each of these officers comes with the “Resolve” Trait, as well as many of them being either Jem’Hadar or Vorta and therefore having the unique traits associated with each of their species (“Shroud” and “Telekinesis” respectively). Additionally, every one of these impressive officers will come standard with a new, unique Active Roster Power that you can use to improve the performance of your ship or away team.

Instead of a new variant on the numeric boost pools seen in previous lock boxes, we’ve decided to offer a fun new activity as a way to earn Bonus Dilithium Ore, as one of the possible prizes in the Dominion Lock Box. By obtaining a Dilithium Mining Claim, players will be able to send a subspace hail to Isihl – the proprietor of the Dilithium Asteroid Mining Event – and obtain a special daily mission. This mission allows access to a special “Rich Dilithium Ore Vein” that, upon completing the Dilithium Mining Mini-Game once, will reward up to 5,000 Dilithium Ore with a minimum prize of 2,500. In order to facilitate the ease of use of these Mining Claims, they can also be used to Transwarp directly to Isihl’s asteroid from anywhere in Space or Sector Space. Opening a Dominion Lock Box will give you a chance to get one of two types of Mining Claim packages: The VIP Customer Package will include ten (10) Mining Claims, while the Preferred Customer Package includes six (6) Mining Claims.

Non-combat Jem’Hadar Fighter Pet

In honor of the Dominion’s favored use of Phased-Polaron weaponry, a new Hybrid Weapon Pack containing this unique energy type will be available in the Dominion Lock Box. These weapons contain the special effects of both Phasers and Polarons, while still benefit from equipment and powers that boost the effectiveness of Polaron weaponry (such as the Jem’Hadar Space Set). Players at any level will obtain a Very Rare / Purple quality weapon that is appropriate for their level, while Vice Admirals and Lieutenant Generals will also have a chance of finding Mk XII versions within these packs.

The Duty Officer Mini-Packs seen standard in previous lock boxes will be undergoing a slight modification for the Dominion Lock Box. In lieu of the Standard set of Duty Officers that were previously included as one possible prize, we’ve included a new Reinforcements Mini-Pack which will include the same Duty Officers that were previously available in the now-retired Doff Pack that bore the same name. The Gamma Quadrant Mini-Pack will retain its place as one of the potential prizes found in the Dominion Lock Box.

In addition to the prizes that can be found by opening the box, we’re also adding a few exciting new items to the Lobi Crystal Store.

For some time now, many players have been requesting the option to upgrade different types of existing gear into equipment that is more suitable for high-end content, such as that found in Special Task Forces or certain high-difficulty queued events like “No Win Scenario.” We’re happy to announce that the Dominion Lock Box is going to offer players the option of doing exactly that.

Non-combat Driclae (Romulan Anteater) Pet

Utilizing Lobi Crystal, players will now have the option of purchasing Jem’Hadar Equipment Upgrade Packs which will convert existing Mk XI versions of the Jem’Hadar Space Set, Jem’Hadar Ground Set, and Jem’Hadar Pistol, into improved Mk XII equipment. Each of these Equipment Upgrade Packs will require players to have obtained the Mk XI versions of this gear by playing through “The 2800” Featured Episode Series, and convert it into the upgraded equipment by accessing the Lobi Crystal Store. All of this upgraded gear is not only leveled up to Mk XII, but also has additional increases to its stats and enhancements, making all of it much more useful for conquering high-end content.

As an added cosmetic bonus, the upgraded version of the Jem’Hadar Personal Armor will now also come with a different default costume overlay that will more closely resemble the garb worn by Jem’Hadar soldiers. While not a true costume option, Federation players can display this cosmetic option simply by choosing the “Show Visuals” option on their personal armor, with the item equipped. Most Federation Bridge Officers will also be able to display this unique armor overlay.

In addition to utilizing these Upgrade Packs to make your existing Jem’Hadar Pistol and Rapid-Fire Rifle more effective, an entirely new Assault variant of these items is being added to the Lobi Crystal Store. The Jem’Hadar Wide-Area Minigun has a somewhat shorter range than a standard Assault Miningun, but boasts a 5-shot cycle as its primary fire that can hit up to 3 targets in a narrow frontal cone, while its secondary firing mode is a long-cycle spray of Polaron beams that covers a much wider area and can simultaneously impact up to 5 targets in a wide arc.

Jem’Hadar Wide-Area Minigun

All Jem’Hadar Weaponry comes standard with a nanostream converter which allows them to take advantage of unique consumable items called Nanoenergy Cells which were first made available as rewards from the mission “Second Wave.” These consumable items allow Jem’Hadar weaponry to take on additional properties, such as extra knockback, toxic damage, or shield penetration. Two new Nanoenergy Cells will become available on the Lobi Crystal Store with the introduction of the Dominion Lock Box, allowing Jem’Hadar weapons to now be capable of either reducing an enemy’s damage resistance (while simultaneously offering an additional chance to Expose the enemy), or stunning the target and removing all of their currently-active beneficial effects.

And what would a Lobi Crystal Store update be without a new variety of vanity pets to collect and enjoy? A Jem’Hadar Fighter Pet will be made available for use as in Space, while a variety of creatures from New Romulus will be making their appearance in a Ground Vanity Pet variety pack. Several variants of the Driclae (also known by some as “Romulan Anteaters”) will be up for grabs. Collect all of the variants yourself, or trade with friends to obtain the exact one that you prefer.

A complete FAQ will be published soon that will include an item-by-item breakdown of the contents of the Dominion Lock Box as well as the items that will be added to the Lobi Crystal Store. We’re all certain you’ll enjoy the new offerings, and look forward to seeing you all in-game!